Dope deals hard rock mayhem

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), David Friedman NEWS-TIMES MUSIC WRITER

Published 1:00 am, Friday, February 13, 2004

Pushing musical boundaries by releasing an album that includes some of the heaviest songs they've ever done - as well as some of the most radio-friendly tracks - the members of Dope continue to travel their own path in the music industry.

While it's rare to hear the rock-metal band's songs on radio or to see their videos on
MTV
, you can't help but notice that Dope is constantly on the road performing for its growing fan base. Opening shows for Slipknot,
Kid Rock
, Fear Factory,
Alice Cooper
, Staind and Powerman 5000, among others, Dope continues gaining exposure to new audiences.
This, of course, should only help record sales as the band tours in support of its third album, "Group Therapy," which came out Oct. 21 on Recon Records/Artemis. The often melodic album includes 13 songs with 13 accompanying music videos. The band will open for Mushroomhead on Friday at The Chance in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before headlining March 4 at the

Webster Theatre
in Hartford.
While MTV aired the video for Dope's lead single, "I Am," which is about empowerment and being content with oneself, the band will send out edited versions for its second video, for the love song "Bitch." The uncensored version features naked strippers, who lead singer-guitarist
Edsel Dope
has known for a while.
"You're in this game as long as I've been in this game and you know lots of hot chicks," Edsel said in a Feb. 5 interview from Houston, Texas. "I've always liked hot girls and for some reason hot girls, stripper chicks and rock 'n' roll dudes go hand in hand. If you come from the school of rock 'n' roll that I come from - which is the old school

Motley Crue
,
Guns N' Roses
, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll vibe - it just seems to be what gets the job done."
Born March 21, 1976, Edsel Dope was named after the same "lousy old car" for which
Henry Ford
's son was named. He said there was "no real point" in revealing his real last name.
In any case, Edsel grew up in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. His father was straight-laced and conservative, while his mother was a dreamer. When Edsel was 4½, his parents divorced. He stayed with his mother, while older brother Simon, then about 7½, lived with his father.
Edsel began playing drums when he was 5. Eventually, he got into such entertaining acts as Kiss, Guns N' Roses, N.W.A. and
Nine Inch Nails
.
When he was about 16, Edsel moved out of his mother's house and started traveling around the country to Miami, Atlanta, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Around then, he began writing songs and playing guitar.
Having made money by washing dishes, delivering pizzas and working in offices, Edsel moved back to New York City when he was 19 or 20. He and Simon reconnected and tapped into the more lucrative market of selling drugs.
"We were a one-stop shop delivery service in New York City," Edsel said. "You have a cell phone and you have clients and they call you and you roll over and bring them what they're looking for.
"That's how we made all of our money to buy computers and software programs and gear and everything we needed to do to make our demos in order to get our record deal," he added.
With Simon playing keyboards, the brothers formed Dope in 1997. The high quality of their demos led to a record deal with Flip/Epic in October '98. The band released its debut album, "Felons and Revolutionaries," in September '99. The album featured the songs "Sick," "Pig Society" and covers of N.W.A.'s "... Tha Police" and Dead Or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)."
The band went on 16 national tours to promote the "Felons" LP, which, combined with Dope's 2001 "Life" LP, sold more than 300,000 copies.
But Epic's promotion of "Life" - which featured Top 30 singles in "
Now Or Never
" and "Slipping Away" - marked a decline in record label support. Dope only went on one national tour for the album.
"That kind of tells you that the label wasn't behind it and there wasn't any support there for us to go out there to do what we needed to do," Edsel said. "Mind you, this is a band that built its reputation on tours. So if our first album comes out and does well and we toured our (butts) off on it and then you take our ability to tour away, it kind of says 'Let's enter this band in an (butt)-kicking contest and let's chop off one of their legs.' It doesn't really give us the tools that we need to go out there and survive."
By 2001, three of Dope's founding members had left to join other groups. Guitarist
Tripp Eisen
joined the Murderdolls and later Static X, while guitarist
Acey Slade
joined the Murderdolls and drummer
Preston Nash
went to Primer 55.
Edsel, who said he fired all three musicians, wasn't too happy when they allegedly tried to carry on the Dope image and lifestyle in other bands.
"Your new band should take you and make you over to be a formidable member of that group as opposed to looking like a reject from my band," he said.
Dope's third album reached No. 16 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Though Simon left the band in 2002 - making Edsel the only remaining original member - he still helps his brother by listening to songs and giving his input. Through his new job producing video games for Activision, Simon has given Edsel a new avenue for promoting Dope's music.
For those keeping track, Edsel's current bandmates are guitarist Virus, drummer Racci Shay and bassist Adrian, a member of Powerman 5000 who is filling in on tour. The band's last bassist, Sloane "Mosey" Jentry, "left to go rub his girlfriend's feet" five days before Dope went on tour, Edsel said.
"We haven't missed a beat and nobody seems to care - just like I knew they wouldn't," said Edsel, who has homes in New York and Chicago.
"This band has gone through so many lineup changes and so many different facelifts that you'll confuse yourself if you try to figure it out," he added. "Right now, it's Dope. You come see Dope live and you're gonna get Edsel Dope and three guys around me that represent the Dope lifestyle (and) will kick your (butts) as good as any Dope concert has ever been. If you know what Dope is and you know what to expect when you come to see Dope, you won't be disappointed."

The Poughkeepsie show begins at 8:30 p.m. The venue is at 6 Crannell St. Tickets are $13. Call Ticketmaster at (845) 454-3388.

The Hartford show begins at 6 p.m. The venue is at 31 Webster St. Tickets are $12. Call Tickets.com at (800) 477-6849.